ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stem · straw · hand · spring · fine · cell · land · tear

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. tear — from crying
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. land — ground
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — in biology
  8. land — a country
  9. spring — a coil
  10. hand — in cards
  11. fine — all right
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. fine — high quality
  14. hand — help
  15. land — to come down
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. cell — a phone
  18. tear — from crying
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. spring — of water
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — to come from
  23. tear — to rip
  24. spring — the season

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com